


Red, Hot, and Bothered

by LittleRaven



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mills & Boon Romance, Possibility of Noncon Implied But It Doesn't Actually Happen, Unconventional Courtship 2020, Unconventional courtship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRaven/pseuds/LittleRaven
Summary: Mashing a somewhat alternate universe with a Mills & Boon romance novel summary.The slaver’s gift…Anakin Skywalker: a Jedi warrior, his mission in a remote Outer Rim planet is covert and dangerous…Ahsoka Tano: a trained Jedi herself, engineering her own abduction as a dancing girl to gather information on that planet's slave market…They're in a tight spot, and when Ahsoka is offered up for sale, Anakin sees a way out. But escaping across the sands will show him and Ahsoka both something more than they expected to handle...
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43
Collections: Unconventional Courtship





	Red, Hot, and Bothered

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Unconventional Courtship Fest](https://unconventionalcourtship.dreamwidth.org/). Based loosely on the plot summary of _The Desert Virgin_ by Sandra Marton, as given in the fest's [plot suggestions post.](https://unconventionalcourtship.dreamwidth.org/401.html)
> 
> For this fic, neither Anakin's marriage nor the war happened.

They were doing this again. Ahsoka examined the soft scraps she'd be wearing for the mission: the same shade of red her Jedi wardrobe always was, and silver metal to hold it all together around her body. The look was more than half the job; she could dance if she had to, but it wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny unless the slavers were very tolerant, which was not something they were known for, or found other uses for her body afterwards. Attractiveness would be enough for them to take her in to be sold, once she joined the dancers who were their likely targets, and after that it was only reconnaissance. Take note of who was there, and of how they did things, then get out. She would be sold, and escape with discretion. Someone would be in the crowd as backup in case things went wrong. 

Just how many secret slave markets were out there? Too many, Anakin had said. Ahsoka heard the grim cold of the words. She had agreed, but decided it might be better to drop the subject unless he brought it up again. Her former master’s feelings could not be faulted; the truth behind them provided him with more drive for this mission to go smoothly, and he would be on edge enough about what they were doing without talking about it. That seemed to be how he wanted it, and she would let him have his way, at least until it was all over. 

It might not have looked like the best idea for someone as close to the situation to be involved, Ahsoka reflected, but for Anakin this was all the more reason to volunteer himself. He had not surprised her. She welcomed that. It had been good, having him as her partner, and she wouldn’t deny herself the opportunity to see their partnership transformed by them being equals at last. 

Ahsoka stood between the dancers on the stage. It seemed they were being sold as a group; perhaps they’d been captured with an eye towards enticing a specific buyer. Someone who could afford this many new slaves at once. 

Anakin was watching her. She could not object, both in terms of the mission and in terms of their friendship. Ahsoka took a moment to watch him back. The focus in his eyes matched his mood where it pushed at the edges of her senses. Coiled up, ready to strike. It had been some time since she’d felt him this tense. 

She wouldn’t nod or smile to offer reassurance, but Ahsoka’s mind was centered, quiet. She knew Anakin would like the reminder that he’d taught her well, and calm would keep them safe until they were through this. 

“Come on.” 

His hand stretched towards her, unnecessary and still appreciated. Ahsoka took it as they ran for where he’d stashed the speeder. 

“What was that for?” She kept the words quiet, but they were hissed. 

“Saving you some trouble? You’re welcome.” His voice belied the flippancy of the quip, as did his mind. No longer coiled, but urgent. 

“You have a reason for not waiting until I was sold and taken away?” It would have given her more time to gather information. It would have meant people could see her being gone with all her fellow dancers, and her escape could have happened out of sight. Instead, Anakin had singled her out and bribed his way into buying her himself, separately. The seller had haggled the price up, promising many skills invented for her on the spot, and nearly swooned at Anakin’s easy agreement. Now she had been sold to some unknown who might be discovered as fake at any moment, and they’d be lucky to escape without pursuit. 

She had hoped it would be easier for him if he played no part in the charade. Of course. She should’ve known he wouldn’t stand by and wait, that it would only be a matter of when he decided to take a different course of action. Their first mission since she’d been knighted, and he was the way he’d always been. 

“Yes, I do.” Too much confidence, not enough information. 

Ahsoka let him climb into the speeder first. Whatever the problem was, they needed to get out of it, and he could do that the fastest. 

They didn’t speak until they were moving again. She leaned into the warm solidity of his back against her, arms wrapped around him, closing her eyes against the wind. “Well?” Anakin sighed, and the heaviness would have been enough to make her smile if he weren’t so jittery. Even without extending her senses, she could feel the tightness under his skin where their bodies touched, and his heart beating fast under her hands.

“It was a risk we didn’t need to take.” He was waiting for her to argue. She wouldn’t disappoint. 

“It was the risk we were prepared to take.” 

“Not one I would take.” Anger, which in him seemed to sink into hiding more than it was ever let go, rose clear in his voice. “Anyone who could afford that amount of new slaves for entertainment in one day is probably a Hutt. Doesn’t matter which one. You don’t know what they would’ve done when you were out of sight.”

Her own voice was firm. “But I knew you would help if something went wrong on my end.” 

She felt his heart begin to slow. “Good to hear it. Because the best way to do that is to prevent something going wrong in the first place.” 

Speeders hummed in the distance behind them. 

“Like that?” 

“Like that.”

They hid in an oasis. It was an obvious place to look, meaning they couldn’t remain for long, but the ship was farther away than when they had left the market. Ahsoka appreciated the chance to rest and rethink in the shade. Anakin had been so in favor of the same that despite the situation he’d put them in, she had actually let herself smile this time. It seemed to have pleased him, too; Ahsoka sensed him getting a little closer to that jovial attitude he’d been faking before, although he remained alert. As did she. 

She could be alert in the spring. Ahsoka let the water flow over her montrals before breaking through the surface. Though Anakin was looking out beyond the palm trees as he sat cross-legged next to the water, she could tell he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. 

“If you’d had to let himself be displayed to that audience today, you might want a dip too,” she told him. 

He frowned. “I’m not sure this was a good idea. How are you doing? What happened when they took you with the other captives?”

Ahsoka sighed. “Nothing. I was just fine.” She swam over to him and wrapped both hands around his left arm, squeezing. Then she pulled him down. 

Annoyed was an improvement over sad. 

“Should get the sand off, right?”

“You shouldn’t laugh at your master this way.” 

“That’s not what you taught me.” She found she had no wish to correct his use of the term.

They walked back out to the shore, and Ahsoka sat next to him as he resumed his position. Much better, she thought. A little break, physical and mental. 

She could feel him watching her still, but said nothing. They sat in silence. 

The red moon shone red when they sensed their pursuers again. 

Anakin stood first, and helped her up. Another gesture she didn’t need, but had missed. Particularly given the cold which had sped through her with nightfall. 

He glanced at her. “We’ll be getting warmed up soon, Snips.” But he stepped closer and gave her a hug. Short, sweet, and yes, she’d missed him. She closed her eyes again to bask in the certainty of his having missed her too, then opened them as she realized that wasn’t the only thing she’d felt from him. 

Ahsoka took a step back and looked up. 

“Sorry,” he said, half meaning it and half not. The day’s certainty seemed to have left him. 

“Don’t be,” she said, taking both his hands. There. Now they were both...not relaxed, definitely, but much better off, she hoped. 

Before either of them could do or say more, it was time. She smiled; he returned it; she whirled around into a fighting stance beside him, and they prepared to face the night’s entertainment together.


End file.
